Town note
The area was first known as Goulding's Camp, named for one of the early miners.
about 0:04:59Spoilers are covered until your reading preferences load.
FILE 592 / 26 April 2025 / 73 MIN / express
We are going to Clifton, Arizona... this is Greenlee County, in the far southeastern corner of Arizona about 0:03:26
The area was first known as Goulding's Camp, named for one of the early miners.
about 0:04:59The town of Clifton was founded in 1873, with miners settling along the canyons and the banks of the stream.
about 0:05:05Mining companies were formed and claims were staked out and developed; the whole history of the town is based on mining.
about 0:05:13If the mine shut down everybody would leave, because there is nothing else there.
about 0:05:22The area was first known as Goulding's Camp, named for one of the early miners.
about 0:04:59The town of Clifton was founded in 1873, with miners settling along the canyons and the banks of the stream.
about 0:05:05Mining companies were formed and claims were staked out and developed; the whole history of the town is based on mining.
about 0:05:13If the mine shut down everybody would leave, because there is nothing else there.
about 0:05:22Copper is the big thing mined there, and after 140 years of continuous mining they are still pulling copper out.
about 0:05:41"3,780"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:04:00
"about $69,000"
Comparison: "right at the national average". Direction: about the same.
As told in 2025 about 0:04:20
"$118,500"
No direction stated.
As told in 2025 about 0:04:32
3.3 / 5 · average of 4
“Lived there since childhood; a tiny town that can be very toxic, and there is not enough for teenagers and young adults to do.”about 0:05:59
“A great sense of family and community; everybody works in the same place and the town loves to put on events for the community.”about 0:06:45
“Only one big company to work for, the mine, which pays the best; several smaller places pay less.”about 0:07:05
“Not many places to choose from but there are several bars, and the grocery store is mediocre and overpriced.”about 0:07:19
Matthew Gerald Meisner was born in August 1984 and grew up in Tucson, Arizona, the son of Gene and Raymond, in a happy home with two brothers and two sisters. A big, stocky, quiet man, he had wrestled at school and went on to Pima Community College. After four or five years she went to rehab and had been sober about two years when she met Matthew.
They married in 2013 and she soon became pregnant. Matthew took a job at the Morenci copper mine and they moved to Safford, about forty minutes away. Their son was born extremely prematurely and spent months in hospital; a daughter followed about eighteen months later, and a third child was on the way when the marriage collapsed in 2017. The divorce gave them 50-50 custody, but the arrangement was bitter.
Matthew began dating Nicole Chacon, a fellow mine worker, in about 2018, and by 2019 they were engaged, planning to marry on St Patrick's Day 2020. It was a lie; she had downloaded the pictures from the internet. She also used the illness to keep him away from the children. Matthew petitioned for full custody, and a hearing was set for 11 February 2020.
He had left a fifteen-year marriage for her, and although she later called the relationship brief, the messages suggested otherwise. On 10 February 2020, just after five in the morning, a fire chief driving on U.S. 191 near Safford found Matthew's black Chevrolet Tahoe crashed in the dark at the Horseshoe Curve between Clifton and Morenci. Matthew was slumped in the front seat, covered in blood. The Tahoe had fourteen bullet holes and he had been shot three times in the head with a nine-millimetre pistol.
Nicole drove past on her way to work, stopped, got back in and drove on; questioned later she said she had not known it was Matthew's car, and a gunshot residue test was negative. A witness then reported hearing a pop and seeing a white sedan make a U-turn and speed south on U.S. 191. A search of the house found a nine-millimetre Ruger with fourteen rounds missing, and ballistics matched it.
Police established the cancer was fake and recovered deleted texts from her phone records. The judge called her manipulative and a danger to society.
Matthew's children were five, four and two when he was killed.
February 10, 2020 / U.S. 191 near Safford, Arizona
As told in the episode, on 26 April 2025.
Accused
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
about 0:28:17business
about 0:17:27home
about 0:17:57home
about 0:47:20school
about 0:13:15police
about 0:43:56landmark
about 0:58:28